Rangers RHP Yu Darvish (7-2, 2.64 ERA) last won a game on May 16 when he beat Detroit’s Justin Verlander in the pitching duel that never materialized. Since then, he’s been a victim mostly of poor run support. He has a 2.08 ERA in the five-game winless stretch, but the Rangers have scored an average of only 1.82 runs per start. Since allowing a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of the second game of a doubleheader at Arizona, Darvish has gone three starts (21 innings without allowing a homer).

Matchup of note: OF Coco Crisp is 3-for-6 with a homer, two walks and four RBIs vs. Darvish. OF Josh Reddick, who missed the first two series against the Rangers, is 0-for-8 against Darvish with six strikeouts.

Oakland RHP Jarrod Parker (5-6, 4.45 ERA) lost to the Rangers on May 22, allowing three runs in seven innings. It was the first time he’d lost to Texas in four career starts. Since that loss, he’s 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA and .179 opponents’ batting average. He’s pitched into the seventh or later in all four starts since the Rangers’ outing, allowed five or fewer hits and two or fewer earned runs. Expect him to try and take advantage of the Rangers’ aggressiveness with a lot of changeups.

Top Picks

Comments

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.